Monthly Archives: April 2008

Today…well, let me say that the word today is always a subjective word to use but for what it’s worth, I’ll keep it simple and without too much flagrancy to my words to descriptive tones. In my old age, I’ve learned that disclaimers come in handy especially when you are about to say or do something f****ed up.

Did I just type that?

So yes, I broke down. I gave into the demands of the city and with much struggle and gnashing of the teeth, I broke down the layers of my dignity, pride, and yes, my self-worth as a human being. I even had a moment of silence but to no avail. Sammy couldn’t help even though he tried desperately with his wagging tail, chew toys, and the “feed me now dammit!” puppy dog look that only puppy dogs can give.

I paid for a storage unit.

So, before you drop that dish–or that child–understand that my hands were tied and ultimately, and I mean ultimately, I had no choice. There was just too much stuff in between the corners of the condo and despite my internal conflict with making lemonade from those damn lemons, the need to make room in between the tools, Sammy’s toys, and the crazy new life won the battle.

So, after I submitted my fingerprints–yes, fingerprints–and filled out a mortgage-style application, I was led down a long, dark, and mechanical corridor of storage units that had me looking back every few feet wishing I’d keep some bread crumbs from my earlier lunch. Good thing there was a radio playing or else I would have had to start texting my friends to keep the phone handy.

Let’s just say that DC is a long way from Portland.

However, there is an upside to this tragic story: the storage unit, which is quite big for the price, is of course, free for the first month and only $8 to start. So, I think for a month or so, I’ll have essentially free storage and less clutter in the condo.

I also spent time at IKEA today.

(I’ll maintain a separate post for that experience)

All together, it’s been a successful experience from Portland to DC. People are getting to be more like my friends in Portland, and slowly I am learning that this city has room for a guy like me.

You know the days
back when
you and I pretended to
know all
the rules to
hop-scotch
and the days
lingered on like those
lighting bugs
on moist nights
where
usually
we’d fall asleep
to the
sounds of traffic
lights flickering
the way
to the next stop?

You know the days
back when we
would jump
around for no reason
and
the dimmiming
street lights
would remind
us of the Jeffersons
or
like the time you broke
two teeth
and within no time,
you made your way
back to my sand pit,
like wisdom leading
wisdom to the
ends of the earth
you and I.

You know the days
back when we
would write
love notes in kid’s
hands and only our
code
was understood,
and the noise of the
world didn’t matter
simply because we
ignored it
just
like the time you
washed your lips
after
I kissed you
but our secret had just
started and
you knew that
more than I did.

It was that moment
that
made us who
we are
and those days
don’t leave us
but carry us forward
unafraid and willing
to be.

There is a sea
of greens, and reds,
and blacks
that cover my eye’s reach,
and for once,
I am pleased
to see
my face amongst them
in a intertwined dance
of laughter, pictures,
and the struggle.
Noises filtered
into
chromatic symphonies
and the
humid air dampens
the harmonics, leaving
me
breathless in between
the movements.
Curvy streets lay
out conversation
topics for
the walkers, and I sit
and witness the dialouge:

harsh, wild, and with too much color

There is the traffic
pattern of color
on top
of
color; in between
the layers of
sound and noise,
and my nose-bleed
seats
feel like I am third
chair in the
brass section.

When I was younger–well, you know, a few years ago–I used to walk around in the Home Depot with a “Mike the Handy Man” on the brain. I mean, I would walk into the front door and feel like God had given me a direct order to rebuild everything in the world and I could start in any section of the store. With a swipe of my hand, the “thing” would become a built item and the world, for what it’s worth, would be safer because I had it built.

What God didn’t know is that many moons ago, the devil and I made a deal that forced me to trade in my handy-man skills for the gift of gab. Hey, I thought it was a fair trade then.

For the past week or so, I, along with two of the greatest people I’ve had the pleasure of breaking a kitchen into smaller pieces, spent many hours learning how valuable friendship really is through cabinet dust, cryptic installation instructions, and of course, a few emotional breakdowns . The saying is that your “true friends help you move” is very true but I would have to say that men that break sheetrock together, should by default break bread together–well, a few cracks of the beercan can’t help either.

Long hours turned into longer days but in the end, we built a home that is a marvel to look at it. So, a huge thanks to Troy and Bruce who made a home an even greater asset, a future.

In the middle of all of this, DC and I have this ongoing feud with its pollen machine that tourists love to digest each and every year. Yes, the pollen count in DC is by far the most hated part of the city for me, as it causes me to shut down into a tiny humanoid cocoon which causes my phone voice to sound like I’ve been on crack for a few days. At any rate, dealing with the allergies–which left me alone while I was in Maine–have ambushed me with a swiftness so stand by for a quiet battle to ensue as my stint in DC becomes more of a lifestyle.

Troy and I spent some time last night enjoying a much needed break from the norm of dust, cabinets, and water lines before his early departure this morning. We walked to a nearby restaurant and had a cool and collected dinner as it rained outside. The restaurant was busy and brought in most of what made up the population of DC. Some people feverishly ran into the restaurant out of desperation from the downpour but the vibe from the kitchen to the wait staff was evident and it felt so good to just sit, talk, and eat.

LaRoyce and Cody made a surprise appearance late last night and of course, on CP time. So, around midnight later, we had dessert as they dove into a huge meal coupled with a few Long Island Ice Teas. It was so late in the evening and Troy and I had just put on the last coat of paint a few hours prior but the fact that both Cody (from Maine) and LaRoyce (Southern Maryland) made the trek made everything just tie in.

This is why I love my friends and is why exactly why a man needs only a few friends like Cody and LaRoyce to make sense of this world. I am extremely grateful for what they provide me and I will die trying to match their love for me in my own love for them.

So, fights with allergies, Home Depot dreams, DC traffic of people and cars, awesome friendships, and of course many missed phone calls and emails to return. Long week you ask? Yeah, I’d say so.

My flight leaving Austin today was a little hectic. First of all, let me start by saying that just because you might live a few minutes away from the airport doesn’t always mean that you will arrive in the same amount of time each and every time. Who knew that on a Friday afternoon there would be bumper-to-bumper traffic and yes, an accident that perhaps would have caused further delay but my last conversation with TomTom ended fairly well so he, out of the kindness of his heart, led me around the disaster area in order the make the flight on time.

Keep your enemies closer right?

And yes, I didn’t have enough gas in the rental car so not only was I extremely late for my flight, but I will have to stop the vehicle to put gas in the car. I started the make a dash towards the airport sans gas and with one of those attitudes that involved a part of the finger anatomy but I thought of the $1,000,000 a gallon surcharge I would get if I returned the vehicle with only a half a tank.

So, I stopped then filled her up and quickly got back on the road. At any rate, lesson learned from this episode: don’t get caught on the couch with a bag of Cheetos and cheese dip when you really need to be at the gym working on a routine.

So, all in all, my trip to visit my buddy Cheston in the Austin area went very well. I don’t think his approach to life is, nor will ever be, in line with my own but I will do best to keep him tethered to what we have as friends. Despite our different viewpoints, he’s a true friend who I know God has put in my life for a reason that I will never question.

Good friends don’t come with instructions and if they did, I don’t think I would follow them anyway.

So, all my best to Texas and its dusty roads, Cowboys, and off-beat lifestyle. Can’t say I’ll miss the long drives across the interstate or the traffic that seems to come out of nowhere. Then again, I think I also came out of nowhere…

I started my Austin adventures yesterday on the couch and without much desire to leave the couch. In fact, I feel asleep a number of times, played with an otherwise “get outta my face” cat, then decided to become extra creative by scrambling some eggs, adding organic cheese, coupled with a few slices of perfectly toasted…yep, you guessed it, toast.

Naturally, the next step after that ordeal was a nap.

I later woke up to perhaps the only thing that captivated my attention during my awake morning. There was an Ax Men marathon and if you’ve ever thought that the days of Paul Bunyon were long gone, then quickly grab your reading glasses and think twice about that recipe. It was truly stunning to see these guys take on the endless hours of hard labor, Mother Nature’s fury, and the personalities that go into bringing a 2×4 to the very squeaky clean halls of Home Depot. Watching the show made me think twice whenever I have the urge to call an Ax Men a lumberjack. They are far from it…

So, when Ches came home, we went to the most luxurious Chinese buffet I’ve ever experienced. Spotty clean and with his zany stories of losing brain cells in the Army, it was a swell night.